Science Player Poll

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Sima Guang Hater
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Science Player Poll

Post by Sima Guang Hater »

I've noticed that more than one science player in the official player poll has been under- or unranked, according to the collective. In what will undoubtedly be seen as an act of self-aggrandizement, I invite you, quizbowl, to submit a ranking, 1-10 (you can rank more if you want), of active players based on some metric of science ability. How you choose to rate them (real knowledge, quizbowl knowledge, points scored, ability to find the runtime of an algorithm on-the-fly during a tossup) is up to you.

This poll will be open until next Monday (5/5).
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cody »

An unordered list of people I think could reasonably be placed in the top 10, for consideration: Eric M, Tommy C, Billy B, Sriram P, Ashvin S, Aaron R, Adam S, myself, Shan K, Rafael K, Nick J, Andrew W, Austin B, Brian M, Jasper L, Auroni G, Sinan U.
Last edited by Cody on Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

whoooooooooooooooo caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cheynem »

Andrew W?!
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cody »

Cheynem wrote:Andrew W?!
He's got a good power rate on the first 40 characters.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by touchpack »

Andrew has real knowledge of biochem but needs to work on his packet studying if he wants to get more than 1 power at Lederberg
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by The Ununtiable Twine »

Ukonvasara wrote:whoooooooooooooooo caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares
the only actual thing this poll will accomplish is deciding which finger i choose to wear my lederberg championship ring on
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Pilgrim »

Cody wrote:An unordered list of people I think could reasonably be placed in the top 10, for consideration: Eric M, Tommy C, Billy B, Sriram P, Ashvin S, Aaron R, Adam S, myself, Shan K, Rafael K, Nick J, Andrew W, Austin B, Brian M, Jasper L, Auroni G.
You're missing Sinan
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cody »

Pilgrim wrote:
Cody wrote:An unordered list of people I think could reasonably be placed in the top 10, for consideration: Eric M, Tommy C, Billy B, Sriram P, Ashvin S, Aaron R, Adam S, myself, Shan K, Rafael K, Nick J, Andrew W, Austin B, Brian M, Jasper L, Auroni G.
You're missing Sinan
Thanks!
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Sima Guang Hater »

Other people worth talking about: Brian McPeak, Kenneth Lan, Libo Zeng (who's kind of chronically underrated in science, in my opinion), James Lasker, Emily Chen (EDITED Thanks Mike), Saajid Moyen, Jonathan Xu
Last edited by Sima Guang Hater on Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cheynem »

Emily Chen.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by merv1618 »

touchpack wrote:Andrew has real knowledge of biochem but needs to work on his packet studying if he wants to get more than 1 power at Lederberg
Wasn't there some guy who got over 40 powers on that set? I'll bet he's really good at science.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by gyre and gimble »

Just something for people to consider: Sriram actually suffers from the shadow effect because Mark and I get a lot of physics/astronomy/math questions, both of us being Physics-Math majors with a lot of real knowledge in those areas. I'd say the two of us pull 10 ppg worth of science at nationals and about 15 at lower difficulty, so Sriram's points are scored despite of that.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Ringil »

Here's my poll with some commentary.

1. Eric M.- Gut feeling because I think he would've destroyed Lederberg and put everyone to shame, but for some reason he didn't play.
2. Steven H. - Top Scorer at any Lederberg mirror, crushing all competition
3. Billy B. - Although only 4th best in P/N ratio at the ICT mirror of Lederberg, his high neg count propels him to 3rd.
4. Tommy C. - Had the 4th best overall P/N ratio in any mirror. His lack of negs though are holding him back from achieving the next level.
5. Sriram P - Actually suffers from the shadow effect...his points are scored despite of that.
6. Ashvin S. - Someone saw him rip up Lederberg for many rounds.
7. James L. - Apparently has the sickest astro knowledge ever bar Teitler. His Lederberg stats back it up.
8. Nick J. - His REAL knowledge in biology was shown not only in writing a tournament that could stump #1 player Eric M. but also at Lederberg.
9. Aaron R. - Plays with the 3rd best science player and gets lots of science. Also carried me at Lederberg with his knowledge of the materials that are used in IR things.
10. Andrew W. - Plays with the 3rd best and 9th science players and gets lots of science. Oh, he's also very very good at getting tossups on chlorine.

Just out of the top 10 in no particular order:
Rafael K., Max S. Kenneth L, Austin B. , Adam S.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by naan/steak-holding toll »

People who I considered: Adam Silverman (haven't seen him play enough), Libo Zeng (same reason), Sinan Ulusoy (same reason), Auroni Gupta (same reason)

10. Cody Voight - A very good player on earth science, and his constant writing seems to earn him plenty of points to boot
9. Rafael Krichevsky - Great physics/physical science player; doesn't seem to have the most quizbowlified knowledge, which can occasionally trip him up
8. Aaron Rosenberg - I haven't seen him play much, but his Lederberg numbers don't lie and the buzzes he's made on physics
7. Nick Jensen - Has very real bio and chem knowledge, and isn't bad at sniping other categories from my experience.
6. James Lasker - Near-unmatched at astro among regular circuit players; excellent at other subjects, too
5. Ashvin Srivatsa - Actually suffers minor shadow effect from Matt Jackson, but this is not comparable to Sriram. Still very solid.
4. Sriram Pendyala - Puts up very consistent points in biology and chemistry, and gets some math and physics over his teammates too.
3.Tommy Casalaspi - I don't care if his knowledge is real, but it 's really good, at least for this game.
2. Billy Busse - Aside from Eric, unmatched chemistry knowledge, and very good at other subjects as well.
1. Eric Mukherjee - I don't think this can be contested.

Open players worth mentioning as really, really good: Seth Teitler, Selene Koo
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Excelsior (smack) »

Since Lederberg stats will probably be a relevant factor for evaluation, I should point out that I shadowed Sriram _way_ more than he shadowed me - most of my buzzes (and negs) were in physics/other, which Sriram would've gotten soon after (I mean, Sriram is a physics major, after all), whereas a significant fraction of Sriram's buzzes were bio/chem, which I would have been getting much later or not at all. Disgusted as I am with myself to admit it, the correct ordering of the top 4 players is almost certainly as follows:

1. Eric Mukherjee
2. Billy Busse
3. Sriram Pendyala
4. Tommy Casalaspi
Ashvin Srivatsa
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Cody »

If you're looking at LEDERBERG stats, you should really be looking at the playoffs (sp. the "TOP").

I don't really buy this "shadowing effect" business. Are we supposed to presume that Ike Jose wasn't shadowing Billy at all? Or that Stephen & I weren't shadowing Tommy - especially when we also were grabbing/negging physics, certainly one of his good categories? Why is Sriram the only person you are considering here?

I'm not going to share my whole ballot, but here's my top 5:
1. Eric Mukherjee
2. Tommy Casalaspi
3. Billy Busse
4. Auroni Gupta
5. Sriram Pendyala

I don't know why everyone in this thread has forgotten that Auroni is both eligible and good at science - granted, I did forget this for the player poll, but I also specifically mentioned him in this thread.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Excelsior (smack) »

I don't really buy this "shadowing effect" business. Are we supposed to presume that Ike Jose wasn't shadowing Billy at all? Or that Stephen & I weren't shadowing Tommy - especially when we also were grabbing/negging physics, certainly one of his good categories? Why is Sriram the only person you are considering here?
I mean, I thought we all were aware that Billy was really good at science, whereas people don't seem to be convinced of the same about Sriram, hence my raising that point. If you would like me to say "yes, Billy would also have gotten more points in the absence of Ike", then sure, I will say that, because it is true.

(If Auroni is eligible [did he play anything this year?], that could be an oversight on my part; I've never actually seen him play, so no comment there.)
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by touchpack »

1) Steven Hines (it's obvious guys, the stats make it indisputable, this guy has memorized every formula ever and knows all the terms in them. c^6 => Hawking radiation ezpz why do you even play this game you're just going to lose to Hines)
2) Jake Sundberg (he literally won his team Lederberg 2 by getting the 20th tossup. Only his inability to know what the questions will be beforehand keep him from being #1.)
3) Max Schindler (His ability to neg questions against strong science players is extremely strong--as we know from Eric Mukherjee, the hallmark of a good science player is the ability to neg profusely)
4) Matt Jackson (incredible Hamilton-Jacobi knowledge! No other justification is necessary.)
5) Chris Grubb (he got more science tossups against me than Libo did)
6) Libo Zeng (Libo has mastered the art of negging physics and math questions. Only his inability to neg bio, chem, and other science is holding him back.)
7) Chris Ray (if Jerry ever posts the video of our game vs Maryland from 2014 Nats, go watch it just so you can see the look on his face as he answers the biology tossup)
8) Eric Mukherjee (literally 0 ppg across two Lederbergs, very overrated player)
9) Rob Carson (his strong Makemake knowledge propels him to a spot on this list)
10) Tommy Casalaspi (He's a good player, a bit overated in my opinion. But definitely okay to be in a top team! To say that he is one of the best solo mids etc is really exageration, he played like 10 games in a high level LAN, you need way more to compare him to Hines, Sundberg, or Schindler)
Billy Busse
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

touchpack wrote:1) Steven Hines (it's obvious guys, the stats make it indisputable, this guy has memorized every formula ever and knows all the terms in them. c^6 => Hawking radiation ezpz why do you even play this game you're just going to lose to Hines)
2) Jake Sundberg (he literally won his team Lederberg 2 by getting the 20th tossup. Only his inability to know what the questions will be beforehand keep him from being #1.)
3) Max Schindler (His ability to neg questions against strong science players is extremely strong--as we know from Eric Mukherjee, the hallmark of a good science player is the ability to neg profusely)
4) Matt Jackson (incredible Hamilton-Jacobi knowledge! No other justification is necessary.)
5) Chris Grubb (he got more science tossups against me than Libo did)
6) Libo Zeng (Libo has mastered the art of negging physics and math questions. Only his inability to neg bio, chem, and other science is holding him back.)
7) Chris Ray (if Jerry ever posts the video of our game vs Maryland from 2014 Nats, go watch it just so you can see the look on his face as he answers the biology tossup)
8) Eric Mukherjee (literally 0 ppg across two Lederbergs, very overrated player)
9) Rob Carson (his strong Makemake knowledge propels him to a spot on this list)
10) Tommy Casalaspi (He's a good player, a bit overated in my opinion. But definitely okay to be in a top team! To say that he is one of the best solo mids etc is really exageration, he played like 10 games in a high level LAN, you need way more to compare him to Hines, Sundberg, or Schindler)
I rescind my earlier criticisms of this poll.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by The Ununtiable Twine »

touchpack wrote:1) Steven Hines (it's obvious guys, the stats make it indisputable, this guy has memorized every formula ever and knows all the terms in them. c^6 => Hawking radiation ezpz why do you even play this game you're just going to lose to Hines)
2) Jake Sundberg (he literally won his team Lederberg 2 by getting the 20th tossup. Only his inability to know what the questions will be beforehand keep him from being #1.)
3) Max Schindler (His ability to neg questions against strong science players is extremely strong--as we know from Eric Mukherjee, the hallmark of a good science player is the ability to neg profusely)
4) Matt Jackson (incredible Hamilton-Jacobi knowledge! No other justification is necessary.)
5) Chris Grubb (he got more science tossups against me than Libo did)
6) Libo Zeng (Libo has mastered the art of negging physics and math questions. Only his inability to neg bio, chem, and other science is holding him back.)
7) Chris Ray (if Jerry ever posts the video of our game vs Maryland from 2014 Nats, go watch it just so you can see the look on his face as he answers the biology tossup)
8) Eric Mukherjee (literally 0 ppg across two Lederbergs, very overrated player)
9) Rob Carson (his strong Makemake knowledge propels him to a spot on this list)
10) Tommy Casalaspi (He's a good player, a bit overated in my opinion. But definitely okay to be in a top team! To say that he is one of the best solo mids etc is really exageration, he played like 10 games in a high level LAN, you need way more to compare him to Hines, Sundberg, or Schindler)
Outstanding post.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Galadedrid Damodred »

To the people who mentioned me: I'm flattered, but you do realize that at the very most 25% of my points come from science, right? I wasn't even the best science person on Louisville's team this year! Don't worry about CO physics, though - it's coming along quite nicely and I am confident the player response will be positive.
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Windows ME »

1. Daniel Arap Moi - utterly dominant in every fashion
2. Mwai Kibaki - his only flaw was not being Daniel Arap Moi
3. S. Hines - more than capable of becoming President of Kenya
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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Sima Guang Hater »

Get your ballots in soon people, so far I only have 3 (four counting mine, I suppose)
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
Brown 2009, Penn Med 2018
Instructor/Attending Physician/Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Coach, University School of Nashville

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Re: Science Player Poll

Post by Sima Guang Hater »

RESULTS

There were 5 ballots.

#1 Eric Mukherjee, Penn (50, all 1st place votes)
#2 Billy Busse, UIUC (44. highest #2, lowest #3)
#3 Tommy Casalaspi, UVA (40, highest #2, lowest #4)
#4 Sriram Pendyala, Harvard (35, highest #3, lowest #5)
#5 Ashvin Srivatsa, Yale (28, highest #5, lowest #6)
#6 Aaron Rosenberg. UIUC (22, highest #5, lowest #8)
#7 Adam Silverman, Georgia Tech (10, highest #7)
#8 Libo Zeng, University of Washington (10, highest #7)
#9 Auroni Gupta, UCSD (7, highest #4,)
#10 James Lasker, Penn (7, highest #6)


Also receiving votes: Sinan Ulusoy (5), Brian McPeak (5), Nick Jensen (4), Shan Kothari (3), Rafael Krichevsky (3), Cody Voight (2)

Thanks for voting.
Eric Mukherjee, MD PhD
Brown 2009, Penn Med 2018
Instructor/Attending Physician/Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Coach, University School of Nashville

“The next generation will always surpass the previous one. It’s one of the never-ending cycles in life.”
Support the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation
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